How to Get Rid of Those Annoying Acne Scars

No one wants a reminder of high school on their face.

Designed by Megan Tatem

By
Katie Becker

Jan 10, 2017

Dealing with acne after your teen years is a particularly cruel skin issue that many adult women struggle with. Even worse, once you get a pimple to finally go away, it can leave a seemingly everlasting blemish in the form of a red mark or ice pick scar, leaving a literal reminder of your teen years smack in the center of your face. Why?!

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"When the acne's wound healing process is interrupted by inflammation from picking or squeezing, or a particularly bad pimple, the blood vessels don't get the signal they should go away, leaving you with a red scar, or you may not produce enough collagen, which leaves an indented scar," explains Tina Alster, a Washington, D.C.-based dermatologist. While acne scars can go away on their own over time, the way they look after about a year is how they'll ultimately stay, says Alster. To clear away acne scars for good (and at long last!), here are the at-home and in-office treatments proven to help improve the appearance of acne scars — plus some tips to prevent annoying new ones from popping up and ruining your day.

What to Use at Home

Firstly, get a focused daily skin care plan in action. "My mantra is to protect during the day with SPF and antioxidants," says Alster. "At night you repair: [so you want] something that will stimulate collagen or lightening."

For red marks, your ideal routine should include a daytime antioxidant serum with vitamin C, like Skinceuticals CE Ferulic ($163; skinceuticals.com) along with a sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher to reduce inflammation and prevent further darkening. At night, Alster recommends skin tone-brightening product with ingredients like glycolic acid, kojic acid, arbutin, or licorice extract, like La Roche Posay Mela-D Pigment Control ($53; laroche-posay.com), Elure Advanced Skin Brightening Lotion ($125; lovelyskin.com), or SkinMedica Lytera ($130;skinstore.com). "You can also use cortisone to blanche scars, but it can't be used long-term [one month or more] as it's a steroid and can actually thin skin over time," says Alster. And avoid hydroquinone, she warns, which can irritate the skin further.

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"You'll have more success the sooner you start, and if you do this every day, it takes about a month until you see some improvement," says Alster. "You'll be lucky if it's gone completely."

For bonus points, you might consider using an at-home device, like one you might find in a derm's office. These gadgets have less power than those at your doctor's office, but can produce comparable results over time. For red marks, low-level at-home light devices, like Silk'n FaceFX, ($150; silkn.com), may help remove red and brown from the skin, says Alster. For indented scars, she recommends using controlled heat devices which can ignite collagen production, such as radio frequency-based Newa Skin Rejuvenation System (five payments of $89.90 or $399; trynewa.com).

What the Derm Can Do for You

To treat dark mark or red scars from acne in their offices, doctors usually turn to lasers that hone in on the blood vessels. Be prepared for what happens: "Immediately afterward, you may have redness or bruising and that goes away in days or a week," says Alster. "Patients usually need two or three treatments a month apart each and most people get 50 to 80 percent improvement." Each treatment costs between $200 and $800, depending on your doctor and how big the area is that's being treated.

"For indented, or atrophic, scarring, I use either a fractionated laser and microneedling," says Alster. "You can also fill them in with an injectable filler, but that is temporary."

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Microneedling is a favorite of Alster's at it gives results equal to a laser, but at half the cost. The microneedling device has 36 tiny little needles about three millimeters long that pierce the skin and make a wound healing response, triggering collagen that can fill in a scar. "It's like going backwards to go forward and helps reset the clock," she explains. "However, I don't recommend the at-home microneedling rollers that are advertised, because the tips can't be thrown away after each use and the rollers are not well made enough."

Fractionated lasers work similarly to fill in scars, but by utilizing heat instead of needles to create tiny holes in the skin. "The advantage of lasers is that the heat itself will help contract the collagen and shorten the fiber so it provides tightening in there too," she says. In general, Alster says patients come in monthly for a few treatments. Depending on the individual, people can need one or two times or up tofive or six. "Initial improvement can appear in the first week, but it takes a month to see the full results of one treatment," says Alster. A full-face treatment with a non-ablative laser can range from $500 and $2,000 per treatment depending on what type of laser and the surface area. Expensive, but, hey, if it does the trick!

How Stop Acne In the First Place

Of course, your goal is to make sure you get the acne under control in the first place, but until then: "Do not pick or squeeze!" warns Alster. "It makes people feel better, but it leads to inflammation and tissue destruction." If you do have a particularly inflamed pimple or you did accidentally pick or squeeze it, Alster recommends using ice to calm the skin or dabbing on a bit of cortisone — but only when needed!

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"You don't want to get hooked on cortisone, but as a short-term fix even one percent hydrocortisone really does help with inflammation," she says.